Elliniko, on the Athens Riviera, is the site of The Ellinikon — Europe’s largest urban regeneration project, turning the old airport into a vast coastal park, a marina, beaches and a landmark tower. Explore the Riviera alongside skip-the-line sightseeing tickets and tours from My Greece Tours.
This transforming district is a forward-looking corner of the Athens travel guide. The sections below cover what Elliniko is, the Ellinikon project, the coastal park and marina, the beaches, and how to visit the area.
What is Elliniko?
Elliniko is a coastal suburb on the southern Athens Riviera, between Alimos, Glyfada and Voula, about 12 kilometres south of the city centre. It is best known as the site of the former Athens International Airport, which closed, and is now being transformed by The Ellinikon, a vast urban regeneration project. The area combines a long stretch of Riviera coastline with the largest development site in Europe, making it the most ambitious new district in Athens and a window onto the city’s future.
Elliniko sits in the southern coastal arc of Athens, on the Riviera between the suburbs of Alimos, Glyfada and Voula, roughly twelve kilometres from the centre and easily reached by tram or metro. For decades it was familiar to travellers as the home of Athens’ old international airport, which served the city until it closed when the new airport opened to the east.
Since then the enormous former airport site has become the canvas for The Ellinikon, billed as the biggest urban regeneration scheme in Europe, a multi-billion-euro scheme to build an entirely new coastal district from scratch. The result is a suburb of two halves: an established residential and seaside area along the Riviera coast, and beside it a gigantic construction site steadily turning into parks, marinas, homes, shops and Greece’s first skyscraper. That combination makes Elliniko one of the most talked-about and rapidly changing parts of Athens, and a fascinating glimpse of where the city is heading.
What is the Ellinikon project?
The Ellinikon is an 8-billion-euro redevelopment of the former Athens airport site, billed as the biggest urban regeneration scheme Europe has undertaken. It includes residential neighbourhoods, a major commercial and retail district, hotels, cultural and sports venues, and a huge coastal park of around 2 million square metres, one of Europe’s largest urban green spaces. The centrepiece is the Riviera Tower, Greece’s first skyscraper at about 200 metres. The project is reshaping the southern Athens coastline over the coming years.
The Ellinikon is a development on a scale Greece has never seen, an eight-billion-euro private investment to transform the old airport and coastline into a modern metropolitan hub, and it is widely called the biggest urban regeneration scheme Europe has seen. Rather than a single building, it is effectively a new city quarter being assembled across an enormous site.
The plans bring together residential neighbourhoods ranging from seafront villas to apartment towers, a major commercial and business district with offices, hotels and one of Europe’s largest retail and dining areas, and a wealth of cultural, leisure and sporting facilities. At its heart lies a vast coastal park of around two million square metres, one of the biggest urban green spaces on the continent, designed to give the new district lungs and the public a huge waterfront amenity. Rising above it all is the Riviera Tower, set to be Greece’s first true skyscraper at roughly two hundred metres, holding luxury residences. Built in phases over several years, the project is steadily redrawing the map of the southern Athens Riviera.
What is the coastal park and marina like?
The Ellinikon’s coastal park is a landmark of the project, a roughly 2-million-square-metre green space along the Riviera with walking and cycling paths, gardens, playgrounds, sports areas and waterfront promenades, among the largest urban parks in Europe. Alongside it, the Ellinikon Marina, also called Agios Kosmas, is being developed into a premier yachting destination with over 400 berths for large vessels, plus beach access and dining. Together they open up a long stretch of previously closed coastline for public enjoyment.
Two features of the Ellinikon stand out as the most visible public benefits: the coastal park and the marina. The park is conceived as one of the largest urban green spaces in Europe, around two million square metres of landscaped grounds running along the Riviera, threaded with walking and cycling paths, gardens, playgrounds, sports facilities and seafront promenades, designed as a vast outdoor space for residents and visitors alike. Early sections have already opened, giving Athenians a glimpse of what is to come.
Beside the park, the Ellinikon Marina, named Agios Kosmas after an eighteenth-century monk, is being built into a world-class yachting destination, with more than four hundred berths planned for vessels including large superyachts, along with direct access to a stretch of beach and a cluster of restaurants and shops. Full operation is expected later in the decade. For a city whose southern coastline was long blocked by the disused airport, the opening up of this waterfront for parks, sailing and seaside leisure is a genuine transformation, returning the sea to the people of Athens.
What beaches and attractions are nearby?
Elliniko and its neighbours offer some of the closest beaches to central Athens, including organised beaches at Agios Kosmas and along the Glyfada and Alimos coast, with sunbeds, cafés and watersports. The area is part of the Athens Riviera, so the resorts of Glyfada, Voula and Vouliagmeni, with its thermal lake, lie just south, and Cape Sounion further on. Once complete, the Ellinikon will add a major mall, hotels and venues, making the district a destination for shopping, leisure and the sea.
Elliniko’s great asset is the sea, and the surrounding coast holds some of the most accessible beaches in Athens. At Agios Kosmas and along the neighbouring shoreline of Alimos and Glyfada are organised beaches with sunbeds, umbrellas, cafés, bars and watersports, popular with Athenians escaping the city heat, all within easy reach of the centre by tram.
The suburb sits on the Athens Riviera, the glamorous coastal strip that runs south from the city, so a short hop down the coast brings the lively resort suburb of Glyfada with its shopping and nightlife, then Voula and Vouliagmeni, the latter famous for its warm spring-fed lake, and ultimately the sunset temple at Cape Sounion. As the Ellinikon project advances, the area is set to gain a huge new shopping and dining district, five-star hotels, cultural and sporting venues and the coastal park, so what is already a Riviera beach destination is becoming a major hub for leisure, shopping and waterfront life on the southern edge of Athens. The questions below cover what visitors ask most.
It is worth appreciating just how significant this transformation is for Athens. For most of the twentieth century the old airport occupied a vast stretch of prime coastline, cutting the southern suburbs off from the sea, so reclaiming it as parks, beaches and public waterfront returns a huge swathe of the Riviera to the city and its people for the first time in generations.
The project is also reshaping how Athenians think about their coast and their future. The promise of one of Europe’s largest urban parks, a revitalised marina, new beaches and green public space is changing the southern suburbs from a place people passed through into a destination in their own right. For a visitor, watching this new district rise beside the established Riviera resorts offers a fascinating glimpse of a city actively remaking itself, and a reason to keep Elliniko on the itinerary as it continues to evolve.
How do you visit Elliniko?
You reach Elliniko easily from central Athens by tram along the coast, or by Metro Line 2, whose southern terminus at Elliniko serves the area, in around 30 minutes. By car it is a short drive down the coastal Poseidonos Avenue. The beaches, the early sections of the coastal park and the Riviera resorts are open to visitors now, while the larger Ellinikon development continues to take shape. Combine a beach day or a park stroll with the nearby Glyfada shops and a Riviera sunset.
Getting to Elliniko from the centre is straightforward thanks to good public transport. Metro Line 2, the red line, runs south to its terminus named Elliniko, putting you on the edge of the area in around thirty minutes from the heart of the city, while the coastal tram glides down the Riviera shoreline and is the scenic way to arrive at the beaches. By car, the coastal Poseidonos Avenue reaches the suburb in a short drive, traffic permitting.
Much of the area is already open to visitors: the beaches at Agios Kosmas and along the neighbouring coast, the first completed sections of the great coastal park, and the established Riviera resorts nearby all welcome the public now, even as the larger Ellinikon development continues to rise around them. A good plan is to combine a swim or a stroll through the new park with a visit to the shops, cafés and nightlife of adjoining Glyfada, and to round off the day with a sunset over the Saronic Gulf from the Riviera coast. As the project matures, Elliniko will only grow as a place to spend a day by the sea on the southern fringe of Athens. The questions below cover what visitors ask most.
However you experience it, Elliniko offers a rare double appeal: established Riviera beaches and resorts to enjoy today, and the unfolding spectacle of Europe’s largest urban regeneration reshaping the southern coast of Athens for the future.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Ellinikon in Athens?
The Ellinikon is an 8-billion-euro redevelopment of the former Athens International Airport site on the southern Riviera, described as the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. It includes residential neighbourhoods, a major retail and business district, hotels, cultural and sports venues, a roughly 2-million-square-metre coastal park and Greece’s first skyscraper, the Riviera Tower. It is transforming the Elliniko area into a new coastal district over several years.
Can you visit Elliniko now?
Yes, you can visit Elliniko now. The beaches at Agios Kosmas and along the neighbouring Riviera coast are open, as are the first completed sections of the new coastal park, and the established resorts of nearby Glyfada and Voula. The larger Ellinikon development, including the marina, mall, hotels and tower, is still being built in phases, so the area is a mix of open seaside amenities and active construction.
How do you get to Elliniko from Athens?
You can reach Elliniko from central Athens by Metro Line 2, whose southern terminus at Elliniko serves the area in around 30 minutes, or by the coastal tram, which is a scenic way to reach the Riviera beaches. By car, the coastal Poseidonos Avenue gets you there in a short drive. The suburb lies about 12 kilometres south of the centre, between Alimos, Glyfada and Voula on the Athens Riviera.